Thailand's Wisut Artjanawat shot a third-round three-under 69 to take sole lead in the Mercedes-Benz Masters Philippines in Manila yesterday.
Wisut started the day tied for top spot with Mars Pucay, but ended it one stroke ahead of the Filipino with a tournament total of 13-under 203 at the Tagaytay Midlands Golf Club.
Wisut nailed five birdies and recorded a double-bogey on the ninth.
Pucay, who last year won twice on what used to be called the ASEAN Tour, carded a bogey on the fourth, but rallied with birdies on holes six, 12 and 16.
Another up and coming Thai golfer, Kiradech Aphibarnrat, and veteran Anthony Lascuna from the Philippines are in joint third place.
■ SOFITEL CHAMPIONSHIP
AFP, NANJING, CHINA
Zhang Lianwei shot a five-under 67 yesterday to lie three strokes behind Liao Guiming and one ahead of teenager James Su Dong going into the final round of the Sofitel Golf Championship.
On what is the fifth stop on this year’s Omega China Tour, Liao, who shared the halfway lead with Su, posted a 69 to go 12-under at Nanjing Zhongshan International Golf Club.
Su, 18, was his usual relaxed self after a 73 which left the Vancouver-based amateur on eight-under and five clear of Taiwan’s Tsai Chi-huang, who shot a 74.
Liao’s third successive round in the 60s put him in a position to win his first China Tour title after 10 top-10 finishes in 20 events.
Joint runner-up in last week’s Shanghai Championship, Liao will have to hold off the challenge of playing partners Zhang, part of China’s first generation of professionals, and Su, one of the emerging third generation.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set